Compositions for culturing and/or capturing fish and crustacea

ABSTRACT

Feeds, medicaments, and baits for inducing exploratory feeding behavior in fish and crustacea which comprise monosodium glutamate and alkali metal aspartate in combination with conventional fish or crustacea food or with a medicament or, in the case of baits, with a non-toxic bulk material.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 372,342 filed June 21, 1973,now U.S. Pat. No. 3,903,260 issued Sept. 2, 1975.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to methods of inducing a feeding response in fishand crustacea by the application of certain amino acids and combinationsthereof. In a further aspect this invention relates to methods ofpromoting the growth of cultured fish and crustacea by improving feedefficiency. In a still further aspect this invention relates to methodsof attracting fish and crustacea. In another apsect this inventionrelates to fish and crustacea feeds and baits comprising an amino acidor combination of amino acids which induces a feeding response in fishand crustacea.

2. The Prior Art

One of the primary problems encountered in culturing fish and crustaceais the problem of poor feed efficiency; expressed as the ratio feedexpended to the feed consumed. This problem transcends both the smallscale aquarium used by the fish enthusiasts to the large scalecommercial facilities used for production of fish and crustacea for foodpurposes. Failure of the fish and crustacea to consume the necessaryquantity of food will cause the aqua life to grow at a rate insufficientto facilitate commercial exploitation and ultimately will result inmalformity and death of the aqua life. Further as well as wasting feed,the unconsumed feed causes contamination problems resulting in pollutionof the water or bed, which in turn typically results in disease or deathof the aqua life. This is especially true in the case of the moresensitive varieties of aqua life such as tropical fish and certaincrustacea, e.g. lobster, salt water and fresh water shrimp. Poor feedefficiency is generally attributable to the failure of the aqua life toactually find and/or consume the food supplied to them. Accordingly, wehave now discovered that by using a selected amino acid and especiallycertain combinations of such amino acids in conjunction with feeding, weare able to induce a feeding response in aqua life, thus greatlyimproving feed efficiency and alleviating the problems incident to poorfeed efficiency.

The concept of using luring essences to attract various aqua life is oldto the art. Typically, such essences are concentrates of dead fish orother animal matter of manufactured chemicals similar to suchconcentrates; note, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,452,553. Generally,such luring essences have been used as baits or attractants to catch ortrap wild aqua life and accordingly since the compositions used, in ourinvention, induce a strong feeding response and correspondingly anattraction for aqua life, our compositions can also be used either incombination with or in conjunction with various baits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In summary the invention comprises methods of inducing a feedingresponse in fish and/or crustacea by applying a combination of lysineand glycine; or water soluble salts thereof, or a combination ofmonosodium glutamate and an alkali metal aspartate, in the vicinity ofthe fish and/or crustacea. Alternatively the respective amino acids orsalts can be used separately but are not nearly as effective.

In summary the invention also comprises fish and/or crustacea feeds andbaits comprising less than 10% by weight of the aforedescribedcombination of amino acids or amino acid salts or the respective aminoacids independently.

The invention will be further described herein below.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Considering the invention in greater detail, we have found that certainamino acids are able to induce a feeding or hunting response in fish andcrustacea and that even as between the amino acids which are able toinduce such a response the intensity and duration of the response willvary with the particular amino acid. Thus, we have found that monosodiumglutamate elicits a very strong hunting or feeding response such thatthe fish and crustacea behave in a very excited or alarmed fashion.Further the response elicited by monosodium glutamate is, for someunexplained reason, much stronger than that elicited by glutamine, butboth are of relatively short duration. In contrast to monosodiumglutamate, we have found that alkali metal aspartates elicits a stronghunting or feeding response for a sustained period of time though lessintense than sodium glutamate. Thus, we have found the combination ofmonosodium glutamate and an alkali metal aspartate to be particularlyadvantageous in that the initial frenzy response elicited by monosodiumglutamate initially attracts the fish and/or crustacea to the feed, baitor trap, and the sustained action of alkali metal aspartate continuesthe attraction at a desirably strong rate, but not at the frenzy whichis induced by monosodium glutamate, and which would be undesirable for along period of time in that it would cause the animals to destroy ordamage each other. The relative ratio of monosodium glutamate to alkalimetal aspartate can vary over a wide range but typically is in the rangeof about from .1 to 10 grams of monosodium glutamate per gram of alkalimetal aspartate and typically best results are obtained using a weightratio of about from 0.5 to 2. The intensity and duration of the feedingresponse will vary somewhat with the particular species of fish orcrustacea. We have further found that monosodium glutamate andespecially the combination monosodium glutamate and alkali metalaspartate are exceptionally effective in inducing a feeding or huntingresponse in the following species of crustacea; Macrobrachiumrosenbergi, Macrobrachium americanum; and families of fish; Poeciliidae,Cyprinidae, Cichlidae, Anabautidae and Characidae. The term alkali metalaspartate refers to the group of sodium aspartate, potassium aspartate,lithium aspartate and mixtures thereof. Typically best results areobtained using potassium aspartate.

In further embodiment we have discovered that both lysine hydrochlorideand glycine are able to individually elicit a slight or moderate huntingor feed response in fish and crustacea, and that by combining lysinehydrochloride and glycine we are able to obtain a synergistic effect inthat a very strong hunting or feeding response in induced which is muchgreater than the response induced by the amount of lysine hydrochlorideor glycine individually equal to the total quantity of the combination.Typically a weight ratio of about from 0.1 to 10 grams of lysinehydrochloride per glycine, preferably 0.5 to 2. Also while we have foundparticularly good results to be obtained using the hydrochloride salt oflysine, the free base itself could also be used.

For convenience, the amino acids and amino acid concentrations willherein after be generically referred to as exploratory feeding behavior(EFB) inducing agents. The EFB inducing agents can be used by merelyintroducing the agent to aqueous environment of the aqualife (i.e. fishand/or crustacea). The optimum quantity of EFB inducing agents used willvary with the particular species of aqualife and also the extent of theaqueous environment. We have found, however, that typically good resultscan be obtained by applying sufficient EFB inducing agents to yield anaqueous environment concentration of about from 0.01 to 20 micrograms ofEFB inducing agent per milliliter.

The fish and/or crustacea feeds, of our invention, comprises anutritional source in combination with the exploratory feeding behavior(EFB) inducing agents, of our invention, and preferably also contains abinder. The nutritional source contains at least one source of proteinand optionally can also contain suitable vitamins and growth promotingagents. Suitable protein sources which can be used include, for example,fish meal, casein, clam meal, yeast, corn meal, soya meal, peanut meal,and the like. Optimum ingredients will vary with the particularnutritional requirements of the particular species of fish or crustaceabeing cultivated and also with respect to the economics of the purposefor which they are being cultured (e.g. whether for food production orfor asthetic reasons). The feed can also contain small quantities ofantibiotics or other medicaments and alternatively the EFB-inducingagents of the invention can be used to enhance the reception ofantibiotics or other medicaments by combining the EFB-inducing agentwith a medicament and a suitable carrier and/or binder. Where the feedis used as a crustacean feed, suitable vitamins which can be usedinclude the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) and the water solublevitamins (B complex and C). With respect to crustacea, suitble growthpromoting agents which can be used include, for example, glycogen. U.S.Pat. No. 3,699,244 also describes a number of growth promoting agentswhich can be used to promote the growth of fish. With respect to thebinder, any non-toxic binder can be used provided, however, the binderis only slightly soluble in water. It is necessary that the binder isslightly soluble to permit the EFB-inducing agent to diffuse from thefeed and thus attract fish or crustacea to the feed, at the same timethe binder must be sufficiently insoluble in water to prevent the feedfrom deteriorating prematurely in the water. Suitable binders which canbe used include, for example, starch, guar gum, carboxymethylcellulose,carrageenin, tragacanth gum and the like.

The feed composition or medicament composition of our invention containsless than 10%, by weight, of the EFB-inducing agent and typically willhave an EFB-inducing agent concentration of about from 0.001 to 5 weightpercent and preferably about from 0.05 to 1 weight percent. TheEFB-inducing agent can be added as a separate ingredient in a solid orcrystalline form or it can be added as part of the nutritional componentor as part of the binder. For example, the composition can be preparedby first impregnating the nutritional component and/or binder with anaqueous solution of the EFB-inducing agent prior to compounding.Alternatively, the feed can be impregnated after compounding, but, inthis case, care must be taken to insure that a binder is selected whichwill not deteriorate during the impregnation. In a further embodiment,the EFB-inducing agent can be applied as a coating, according toconventional procedures in combination with a suitable coating material.This is particularly useful in the case of medicament compositionswherein the medicament is applied as a core material containing orimpregnated with the medicament and then is coated with a coatingmaterial containing or impregnated with the EFB-inducing agent. Suitablecoating materials which can be used include, for example, lactose,calcium carbonate, soy bean phospholipids, cellulose, alginate, methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, polyacrylic, polyvinyl pyrrolidoneand the like.

The EFB-inducing agent-feed combinations and EFB-inducingagent-medicament combinations of the invention can be prepared accordingto conventional mixing and compounding procedures such as are well knownto the art, and are, for example, described in the literature. Variousprocedures are also described in the patent art such as, for example,U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,389 (gelling fish food composition) and U.S. Pat.No. 3,671,261 (shrimp feeds). Further, we have found the followingmixing compounding procedure to be a particularly convenient mode ofpreparation. The EFB-inducing agents are blended with all otheringredients. This blended powder is then placed in an extruder common tothe grain industries. Water is then added in quantity consistent withthe powdered formulation to develop an extrudable texture. The moistmaterial is then extruded into cylinders and then dried to approximatelyfive percent moisture.

The bait compositions, of our invention, comprises the EFB-inducingagents, of the invention, in combination with a suitable non-toxic bulkmaterial and optionally a non-toxic binder. Primarily for economicreasons, the concentration of the EFB-inducing agent in the bait ispreferably less than 10%, by wt. The bulk material can be any materialwhich is reasonably insoluble in water and can in fact be the feed, ofthe invention, or preferably can be less expensive filler materials suchas, for example, saw dust, ground corn husks, and the like. The bait canbe prepared according to any suitable compounding procedure andtypically can be prepared in the same manner as the feeds describedabove. For example, the bulk material can be impregnated with a solutionof the EFB-inducing agent and/or can be compounded with the bulkmaterial with a non-toxic binder. A fairly elaborate procedure is, forexample, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,488. Conveniently, the baitcan be used by placing the bait in a porous container which is suitablyaffixed to the trap or other mechanism used to catch the fish orcrustacea. Thus, for example, in a conventional fishing lure the baitcan be applied in a porous or perforated tube affixed to or located onthe hook or near the hook. Correspondingly, any suitable method ofapplying luring baits can be applied to the EFB-inducing agents of ourinvention, for example, those described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,452,553.

A further understanding of the invention can be had from the followingillustrative non-limiting examples.

EXAMPLE 1

This example illustrates the hunting or feeding response induced incrustacea by the amino acid and amino acid combinations used in ourinvention versus certain other amino acids. In this example, a threemilliliter aliquot of a five percent aqueous solution of the particularamino acid or combination to be tested is introduced by pipette into awater filled standard commercial 20 gallon aquarium containing either asingle adult prawn (male or female) or a community of juvenile prawns(mixed sexes) of the species of fresh water shrimp Macrobrachiumamericanum. Eight aquaria are utilized, three of which contain singleadult males, two which contain single adult females, and three of whichcontain a community of juvenile prawns. The ultimate concentration ofthe amino acids in the aquariums is approximately 2 μg. per milliliter.After the respective amino acid or amino acid combination is introduced,the prawns are visually observed for any apparent changes in theirbehaviors. If a response is elicited, it usually took only about 10 to20 seconds and always less than one minute to occur. The response lastsfrom as brief a period as 15 seconds in some cases to as long as severalminutes in other cases. The response is subjectively graded from -1 to+4. A grade of-1 means the animal appeared inhibited by the particularamino acids being tested. A grade of 0 means that there is no change inthe animal behavior and correspondingly no apparent effect elicited bythe particular amino acids. A rating of +1 through +3 signifies apositive response to the amino acid which encourages the prawns toeither begin searching for food or to become extremely active and evenaggressive. A rating of +4 is used in those cases where the amino acidor amino acid combination induces a response or activity notably greaterthan +1 through +3. The results of this test are summarized in thefollowing table:

                  TABLE I                                                         ______________________________________                                                                   Approximate Dura-                                                Response Rating                                                                            tion of Response                                   Amino Acid or Amino                                                                         (Average*.sup.2 of                                                                         (Average*.sup.2 of all                             Combination   all aquaria) aquaria)                                           ______________________________________                                        Cysteine      -1           2-3 min.                                           Asparagine     0           --                                                 Lysine hydrochloride                                                                        +2           1 min.                                             Glycine       +2           1 min.                                             Lysine hydrochloride                                                          and Glycine *.sup.1                                                                         +4           2-3 min.                                           Monosodium glutamate                                                                        +4           1-11/2 min.                                        Monosodium Aspartate                                                                        +3           11/2-3 min.                                        Monosodium glutamate                                                          and Monosodium Aspar-                                                         tate *.sup.1  +4           2-3 min.                                           ______________________________________                                         *.sup.1 1:1 wt. ratio used.                                                   *.sup.2 With respect to any given amino acid or amino acid combination,       essentially the same response with observed in each aquarium.            

EXAMPLE 2

This example illustrates methods of preparing an attractant feed, of ourinvention, which is especially suited for fish. In this example a drymixture containing 7 lbs. of fish meal, 3.2 lbs. high lysine corn, 1.36lbs. of mixed minerals (including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium,sodium, potassium, chlorine, iron, zinc and others naturally present inthe ingredients), 0.8 lbs. of rolled oats, .64 lbs. of mixed vitamines(i.e. vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the vitamin B complex), .05 lbs. ofmonosodium glutamate, .05 lbs. monosodium aspartate, .02 lbs. of sodiumbenzoate, and .02 lbs. potassium sorbate is dry blended in a commercialmixture at room temperature. To the blend is then added 1.2 lbs. ofwheat germ oil, 0.8 lbs. of whey, and 0.75 lbs. of corn oil. The mixtureis then blended and mixed until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. 84.11lbs. of water is then added to the mix, and the composition mixed untila homogeneous slurry is obtained. The mixture is then passed through acommercial roller dryer resulting in the formation of a thin flakedproduct which readily releases the amino acid attractants (i.e.monosodium glutamate and monosodium aspartate) when introduced into anaqueous medium.

EXAMPLE 2A

This example illustrates a method of preparing an attractant feed, ofour invention, similar to that prepared in Example 2, but having aparticular size, especially suited for crustacea, e.g. fresh watershrimp. In this example the same formulation is used as in Example 2with the exception that lysine hydrochloride and glycine are substitutedfor the monosodium glutamate and monosodium aspartate, respectively. Thematerial is then blended into a slurry in the same manner as Example 2,and then extruded through an extruder into about 178 to one inch longcylinders having diameters ranging about from 3/8 to 3/8 inch. Theextrudate is then dried in drying ovens at a temperature of about 40° to50° C, to a moisture content of about 5%. The resulting dry extrudatesare particularly suited for crustacea because of their particle size,and further readily release the amino acid attractants when introducedinto an aqueous medium.

EXAMPLE 3

In this example the feed of Example 2 is tested with various species oftropical fish by feeding samples of the feed to aquaria containing twomembers, of the species, of each of the species of fish identified inTable 2. In each case the fish became unusually excited upon theapplication of the feed to the aquarium water. The excitation issubstantially greater than observed for conventional commercial tropicalfish feed and lead to aggressive behavior and an active feeding pattern.

                                      TABLE 2                                     __________________________________________________________________________                               COMMON FAMILY                                       SPECIES  COMMON NAME                                                                             FAMILY   NAME                                             __________________________________________________________________________    Hyphessobrycon                                                                          Cardinal Tetra                                                                          Characidae                                                                           Characins                                          Cardinalis                                                                    (Cheirodon Axel-                                                              rodi)                                                                         Cholisa Lalia                                                                           Dwarf Gourami                                                                           Anabantidae                                                                          Labyrinth                                                                     Fish Ana-                                                                     bantids                                            Peterophyllum                                                                           Black or Black                                                      Scalare   Lace Angel Fish                                                                         Cichidae                                                                             Cichlids                                           (Pterophyllum                                                                 Eimekei)                                                                      Mollienisia                                                                             Marbled or                                                                              Poeciliidae                                                                          Gambusinos or                                      Sphenops  Orange Tail      Live bearing                                                 Mollie           Tooth Carps                                        Barbus Nigro-                                                                           Black Ruby Barb                                                                         Cyprinidae                                                                           Carps or                                           fasciatus                  Minnows                                            Xiphophorus                                                                             Swordtail Foeciliidae                                                                          Gambusinos                                         Hellerii                                                                      __________________________________________________________________________

EXAMPLE 4

In this example the feed of Example 2A is tested with goldfish byfeeding a sample of the feed to five aquaria containing seven to 10goldfish per aquarium. In each case the goldfish became unusuallyexcited upon the application of the feed to the aquarium water. Theexcitation is substantially greater than observed for commercialgoldfish feed and lead to aggressive behavior and an active feedingpattern.

EXAMPLE 5

In this example the conditions of Example 3 are repeated but acommercial tropical fish feed is added to one end of the aquaria and thefish allowed to find and start feeding on the commercial tropical fishfeed prior to the addition of the feed prepared in Example 2. The feedof Example 2 is then carefully added to the portion of the aquaria waterfurthest from the commercial feed, without disturbing the aquariumwater. In each instance the fish abandoned the commercial fish feed andswam over to, and began feeding on, the feed of Example 2.

EXAMPLE 5A

In this example the procedure of Example 5 is repeated but using brineshrimp as standard feed with goldfish and the feed of Example 2A as thetest feed. The goldfish ignored the brine shrimp and the the fish feedof Example 2A.

EXAMPLE 6

In this example the feed of Example 2A is fed to the same crustaceaaquaria system as used in Example 1. In each instance the responseelicited by the feed of Example 2A is essentially identical to thatobtained for the combination of lysine hydrochloride and glycinereported in Example 1.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the invention, describedherein above and below in the claims, can be made without departing fromthe essence and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An aqua life feed comprising at least one proteinsource, a non-toxic binder which is slightly soluble in water, and aneffective amount of an exploratory feeding behavior inducing agent whichis a mixture of monosodium glutamate with an alkali metal aspartatewherein said feed contains less than 10% by weight of said exploratoryfeeding behavior inducing agent.
 2. The composition of claim 1 whereinsaid binder is selected from the group consisting of starch, guar gum,carboxymethylcellulose, carrageenin, tragacanth gum and mixturesthereof.
 3. The composition of claim 1 wherein said protein source isselected from the group consisting of fish meal, casein, clam meal,yeast, corn meal, soya meal, peanut meal, and mixtures thereof.
 4. Thecomposition of claim 1 wherein said feed composition contains about from0.001 to 5 percent, by weight, of said feed inducing agent.
 5. Thecomposition of claim 15 wherein said feed composition contains aboutfrom 0.05 to 1 percent, by weight, of said feed inducing agent.
 6. Amedicament composition for fish and crustacea which comprises a fish orcrustacea medicament in combination with a binder and an effectiveamount of an exploratory feeding inducing agent which is a mixture ofmonosodium glutamate and alkali metal aspartate, said compositioncontaining less than 10% by weight of said exploratory feeding agent. 7.The medicinal composition of claim 6 wherein said medicament is anantibiotic.
 8. The composition of claim 6 wherein said medicamentcomposition is coated with a slightly water soluble coating materialcontaining said exploratory feeding inducing agent.
 9. The compositionof claim 8 wherein said coating agent is selected from the groupconsisting of lactose, calcium carbonate, soy bean phospholipids,cellulose, alginate, methyl cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose,polyacrylic, polyvinyl pyrrolidone and compatible mixtures thereof. 10.The composition of claim 6 wherein said composition contains from 0.001to 5 percent, by weight, of said feed inducing agent.
 11. An aqua lifebait composition which comprises a non-toxic bulk material incombination with an effective amount of an exploratory feeding inducingagent which is a mixture of monosodium glutamate and alkali metalaspartate.
 12. The composition of claim 11 wherein said bait compositioncontains a non-toxic binder and wherein said non-toxic bulk material isselected from the group consisting of saw dust, ground corn husks andmixtures thereof.